I'll Be There For You
by ForeverInfatuated
Summary: A Friends AU with Bill/Bev, Ben/Bev and Richie/Eddie content
1. The One Where Bev Comes Back

It was a typical day in New York City. Six friends, all in their early twenties, were sitting in their favourite spot at their regular coffee shop; Ben was hovering behind the well-used sofa wearing his uniform and trying to keep an ear out for if anyone needed refills of their coffee, Richie was being his obnoxious self by telling another outlandish story – loudly – while leaning heavily on Eddie who was rolling his eyes but still listening intently, Bill was on the other sofa laughing quietly at Richie's jokes but otherwise kept himself to himself, Mike was digging into lunch and Stan was sat at the table next to the sofa, reading his book and drinking his coffee while pointedly ignoring Richie.

The peace was broken when a familiar face burst through the door in a wedding dress and vail.

"Hey Bill, check it out, your mail order bride finally came through." Richie quipped as they all stared at the scene.

"_Bev_!" Ben exclaimed in pure surprise. He hadn't seen the redhead in years after she left their group in high school to go out with some Tom Rogen guy but he hadn't stopped thinking about her. They'd be so close growing up together but ever since she started dating that douche, she became more and more distant until she up and left them without so much as a goodbye.

So it was a shock to see her, to say the least, let alone dressed the way she was.

"Ben, thank god." She breathed out a sigh of relief and rushed over to him, squeezing him in a hug.

His eyes were bulging out his head but after the shock wore of that Beverly Marsh was actually hugging him, he returned the gesture.

"N-not to ruh-ruin the moment buh-but a-are you gonna e-explain t-this?" Bill asked, gesturing to her attire.

"Oh." Bev said as she pulled away. It was then she suddenly realised all her childhood friends' eyes were on her. "Well, I kinda… ran out on my wedding?"

"Is this like when Eddie runs in the morning to get rid of his gay thoughts or is this an actual run-away bride situation?" Richie asked, earning a smack on the shoulder from the smaller man next to him and an eyeroll from Stan.

The joke at least brought a smile to Bev's face. She had missed Richie's humour. "No, I left him.."

Mike immediately got out of his chair and offered it to Bev who gave him a grateful smile as she sat down. All of the friends leaned forward, clearly interested in her story.

Bev took a deep breath before continuing her explanation. "Well you guys know I've been dating Tom for years but I was just in my room today after getting dressed, having to sneak a cigarette because he really flip the fuck out when he sees me with one, and I was just thinking to myself that I couldn't go through this as soon as I caught a look at myself in the mirror. He beats the shit out of me," Everyone's face seemed to darken as soon as she uttered those words. They may have been separated from each other for years but they were all still in the Losers' Club and no one messed with one without getting the rest on their back. "and the only reason he wanted to get married was cause he wanted a kid but didn't want it out of wedlock, and I just can't live with myself if I put a kid through what I did with my dad." Bev said with a shake of her head. "so I popped the window in the bathroom and ran out, and you guys were the only ones I knew in the city."

"Who weren't invited to the wedding." Stan stated in a deadpan voice, ignoring the daggers Ben was shooting him. They all – besides Bill – knew about Ben's infatuation with the only girl in the group but that didn't mean he was going to play happy family again just because she was down on her luck. The way Stan seen it, she chose to leave them. She made a bad decision and now she was regretting it.

Bev chewed her lip with a guilty expression. "I was kinda hoping that wouldn't be an issue."

"Actually-"

Before Stan could continue, Ben cut him off. Knowing the Jewish man, it was likely to be a biting or sarcastic remark and he didn't want to upset Bev more than she already was.

"We love that you're back! Is there anything we can do to help?"

Bev batted her eyes the same way she did when she was a teenager, it was one of her quirks that she was about to ask a favour and since all of them loved her, whatever she asked for, she got. "Do you have a phone?"

All the Losers were back at Eddie's apartment that he subletted from his grandmother. They usually all hung out here since it was only around the corner from the coffee shop and it was bigger – and cleaner – than Richie's and Bill's across the hall. They were all sat in front of the TV watching some telenovela program that none of them could understand but they had to seem like they weren't listening to Beverly's call in the kitchen.

"Mom please try to understand, I just don't love him." Bev tried to explain sincerely but whatever Elfrida said on the other line must have pissed her off because she gasped in offence. "Well it matters to _me_!"

Everyone was aware of the Marsh's unfortunate situation growing up. Alvin was a disgusting man who was infatuated with his own daughter and did whatever he could to touch her and keep her away from any other boys while her mother just accepted it because they were both dirt poor and had no other choice but to stay together – even though the man of the house beat them both whenever he seen fit. It was the reason why Bev moved out so quickly and in with Tom. She thought he was going to be her escape from that kind of life. The only difference was, he had money. That, and the fact that Tom was so sweet in front of her mother, was the reasons why Elfrida wanted Bev to marry him and finally make their relationship official.

"Mom, listen to me," Bev begged. At this point, the rest of the gang couldn't even pretend they weren't listening to the phone call and all turned towards her. "It's like all my life people have told me, 'you're a shoe! You're a shoe, you're a shoe, you're a shoe!' and then today I stopped and said to myself, what if I don't want to be a shoe? What if I wanna be a purse, you know? Or a hat?" She questioned but as soon as she stopped to listen to her mother on the other end, she scoffed in irritation. "No I don't want Tom to buy me a hat, I'm saying I am a hat- It's a metaphor, mom!" She yelled in frustration.

"You can see where she had trouble." Stan commented dryly as he passed her on the way to get a drink out of the fridge.

Bev ignored him and continued to plea with her mother. "Look it's my life, not yours." She said finally before pausing to listen to the other end. "Well maybe I'll just stay here with Eddie." She rebutted testily.

Everyone turned towards Eddie after her comment, who was sitting with wide eyes. His shock faded quickly and he let out a sigh. "I guess we've established she's staying here." He said with a faint twitch in his eyes. Eddie didn't do well with roommates, they tended to leave… mess. But he would make an exception since it was Beverly and she was in a tough situation.

"Cool, girl roommate." Richie said with a smirk, raising his hand for a high-five.

Eddie stared at him with an unimpressed expression. "Why do you have to fucking ruin everything?"

Richie shrugged carefreely and lowered his hand to wrap around Eddie's neck instead and pull him towards him for a noogy. Eddie struggled to break free before pouncing on the taller man.

While the two started wrestling on the sofa, the others gave them room and went towards the kitchen and sat at the table or hovered around Bev in case she needed comfort. They were all pretty used to Richie and Eddie's shit by now so they knew not to get involved and just let them finish on their own.

"Yes that's my decision." Bev said with finality in her tone. "I don't need his money." With that, she hung up on her mother.

"Good for you, Bev!" Mike praised with a proud smile.

"Y-yeah, and n-now you're staying h-here, we'll all heh-help you get through th-this." Bill said, moving over to her to give her a friendly hug. "And m-me and ruh-richie live ju-just across t-the hall so co-come round a-anything time, ev-even if h-hes away a l-lot." He finished as he pulled away with a completely innocent look.

"Dude, stop hitting on her, it's her wedding day!" Stan rebuked, making Bill go bright red. Of all of the Losers, Bill and Bev were the only ones with a dating history. They had never put a label on what they had but they had kissed and fooled around a little in their late teens before Bev met Tom and put an end to it.

It was pretty obvious he still held a candle for her.

It would be hard for anyone not to fall for Beverly Marsh, standing there dressed all in white looking like an angel had fallen down to earth, with her short, flaming red hair and perfectly natural makeup extenuating her beautiful features.

How Bill and Ben even kept the drool in their mouth was a mystery to the rest of them.

It was then the buzzer to their apartment went off and Mike stood to answer it.

"Who is it?" He asked politely.

"It's Sonia." The voice answered, not even trying to hide the annoyance in her tone.

Eddie instantly pushed Richie away from him and onto the floor and shot up as straight as an arrow, looking like a deer in headlights.

"Crap, I forgot she wanted to catch-up today." Eddie cursed. Every week his mother picked a day for them to have a chat about everything he didn't want to talk about like his dating life or his job or his health. It was the only reason she let him stay in the apartment alone.

His eyes shot over to Bev and he chewed his lip anxiously. "I can cancel, if you want?"

"No, no, don't let me ruin your plans." Bev rushed out, waving him off. She remembered how crazy his mother was and she didn't want to cause a rift between them on her first day back.

"Thanks Bev." Eddie shot around the apartment, grabbing his jacket and his keys before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and going to the intercom. "I'm coming, mommy!" He reassured before bolting out of the apartment to meet her. God knows the lady did not like to wait around and if she found a girl in his apartment, she'd flip her shit.

Richie got up from the floor, looking deflated for a brief second before putting on a smile and making his way over to the kitchen with the rest of them.

"Hey, uh, Bev," Ben finally spoke up, bringing her attention to him. "If you don't wanna be alone tonight, Bill, and Richie are coming over to help me move into my new apartment. You're more than welcome to come." He offered sweetly. He finally scrounged up enough cash to get a decently sized apartment and it was just by coincidence that he'd managed to get it before all of this with Bev happened. If he had more than one room, he would have offered her to stay with him but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Bev gave him a small smile before answering. "No I think I'm gonna stay here for tonight. It's been a long day." She answered before patting his shoulder and moving past him, into the living-room.

"What about you guys? You wanna help out?" Ben asked Stan and Mike.

"I have papers to grade." Stan told him with an apologetic smile.

"I wish I could too, but I don't want to." Mike said with a much blunter approach.

The response earned an accepting look from Ben, an incredulous one from Stan and a loud laugh from Richie.

Ben was crouched down in a squatting position with instructions in his hand for the piece of furniture he was building while Bill and Richie worked on the bookcase next to him.

The two had finished the whole thing but were still left with one piece of metal in their hands that was obviously meant to be attached somewhere.

"W-what's th-this?" Bill questioned quietly, holding the object up.

Richie shrugged and took it from it before hiding it in a nearby plant pot and clapping his hands loudly. "Done with the bookcase!"

"Thanks guys." Ben smiled gratefully before standing and heading to the fridge. "You want a beer?" When the two agreed, he grabbed three out of the fridge and handed them over.

"So you've finally got your bachelor pad." Richie commented as he opened his can of beer. "You can finally put the 'U' and 'S.T.D' in stud." He said, bumping Ben's shoulder who was currently blushing with embarrassment.

"Oh come on, Richie, you know I'm not really looking for anyone right now." Ben tried to wave him off but it was clear the taller man wasn't having any of it.

"Bro, you've got more abs than I have braincells. You have to be rolling in pussy." Richie pointed out dryly.

"It's not like there aren't any offers, I just haven't found the one yet." Ben proclaimed before taking a sip of his beer, clearly wanting this conversation to be over. He never did well with attention, it always reminded him of when he was a kid and everyone stared at him because he was a both with tits bigger than the girls' in their class.

Richie, however, looked affronted. "The fuck do you mean the one? That's like saying there's only one flavour of ice cream! There's banana, and rocky road, and cookie-dough. You can get them with cherries, or nuts, or whipped cream," He said the last option seductively. He then threw a friendly arm around Ben's shoulders and shook him encouragingly. "This is the best thing that ever happened to you! Grab a spoon!"

"Are you trying to make me hungry or horny?" Ben questioned with an amused smile. He knew Richie's intentions were good but he just wasn't looking for a relationship. It didn't mean he turned down one night stands but that's all they were.

"S-stay the fu-fuck out m-my freezer." Bill quipped dryly, making the other two laugh.

"And Big Bill gets off on a good one!" Richie praised.

The three guys sat and drank for a bit before moving on to the rest of the furniture.

The next morning, Richie and Mike were over at Eddie's for breakfast which Bev was currently cooking.

"You really didn't have to cook for us, Bev." Eddie told her with a guilty look. Everyone knew he couldn't cook for shit because Sonia had never let him near anything hot growing up so he could barely make the coffee. In fact, the first time he did was for Richie and he had immediately spat it back into the cup. As a result of that, his friends only ever came over for cereal, fruit or sandwiches for breakfast.

"Oh please," Bev waved him off as she continued with the second omelette for her and Mike. Richie and Eddie were currently eating the first one halved on both their plates as they spoke. "It's my way of thanking you for letting me stay here."

She finished off the breakfast and turned everything off before plating it and putting Mike's down in front of him.

"So what is it you guys do now?" She asked as she sat down at the table.

"Well I do stand-up comedy at the bar, The Barrens, downtown at night." Richie claimed proudly, earning an impressed smile from Bev.

Eddie let out a scoff and butted in. "Yeah and he can barely scrape together enough money for rent so he has a shitty office job during the day. They make him wear a tie."

"That's only cause I know you love a man in uniform, Eds." Richie said with a smirk and a flirtatious wink.

"Don't fucking call me that, trashmouth, you know I hate it." Eddie snipped at him, looking ready to fling what little breakfast he had left at Richie's head.

"And I work at a farmers market." Mike interjected before Eddie and Richie started to fight again. He knew from experience that their arguments could last for hours because Richie loved winding Eddie up and Eddie always took the bait. "Stan's a teacher, Bill works a bike shop doing repairs, Ben works at Central Perk, and Eddie's a nurse."

"That's only so he can watch the doctor stick his finger up guys asses." Richie commented with a shit-eating grin, getting the shorter man back for exposing his boring ass job.

As predicted, Eddie took the bait and shot up to his feet. "That's it, Tozier! You and me, outside! I'm not washing blood out of the floor!" He said with his little fists balled up and ready to swing. Everyone knew it was all for show because if there was one thing for certain, Eddie and Richie would never hurt each other.

"You guys haven't changed a bit." Bev said with a giggle, calming the atmosphere drastically. "I'm gonna go job searching today."

"How come you don't have one already?" Mike questioned curiously.

"I never needed one when I was living with Tom." She explained with an embarrassed shrug. She didn't want to sound like a mooch but Tom had never let her work. He always said it wasn't right for a woman to be working so she sat at home, cooking his meals and doing his laundry while he was out earning the money.

Thankfully, Mike didn't pry and let the subject drop.

Once they all finished their breakfast, the three men bade goodbye to Beverly before heading off to their jobs.

The next time they seen her was at Central Perk where she came through the door with a cigarette already lit between her lips. Her expression was downfallen and her footsteps were heavy as she approached the group – minus Richie as he was at the bar doing his stand-up. Ben shot over to serve them as soon as he spotted Beverly through the door.

"I'm guessing the job search didn't go well?" Eddie asked sympathetically.

She shook her head and flopped down on the sofa. "I'm trained for nothing. I was laughed at, at twelve interviews today. I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do." The only thing that got her a smile was Ben handing her the same coffee order she'd had since she was fifteen. The rest of the Losers sat in silence, unsure of what to say.

It was Ben who saved the day.

"Hey, uh," He scratched the back of his head nervously. "If you're looking for a place to work, I could put in a good word for you here. Terry's looking for new staff anyway," which was a total lie. Terry was a complete dick and let the place stay understaffed because it cost him less money but if Ben promised to cover a few shifts here and work some unpaid overtime there, he'd definitely agree to take a new member on. "and I could train you myself. It's real easy."

Beverly looked up at him in wonder. "Oh my god, Ben, that would be amazing!" She put out her cigarette in the nearest ashtray and got up to give him a hug.

He leaned into her touch with a warm smile, almost forgetting about the audience he had before opening his eyes and seeing the rest of the gang staring at him and awkwardly patted her back. "N-no problem." He said before clearing his throat.

Now with the tension lifted, the six all gathered around the sofas and chatted away just like they did in high school. It was like nothing had changed. Even Stan seemed to warm up to Bev once again.

It wasn't long before everyone started clearing out and Eddie gave Bev an extra key before also leaving.

It was just Ben and Bev alone. He was clearing up while she stayed seating, watching him go about his business.

"Hey, Ben, you want the last oreo?" She asked kindly, holding up the tray of oreoes that they were all sharing.

"Sorry, no sweets." Ben said, patting his stomach. He worked out almost every day but he still seen himself as the fat kid so he didn't let himself enjoy any treats. However, it was hard seeing his two temptations right in front of him – sugary snacks and Beverly Marsh.

"Oh come on, Ben," She said incredulously. "There's nothing wrong with your body." She used to say the same thing when he was on the heavier side but she truly didn't see anything wrong with it. There was just more of him to love. "We could split it?" She offered with a bat of her long eyelashes.

And who was Ben to refuse.

He put the broom he was using aside and sat beside her, taking his half of the treat and quietly thanking her.

They sat in peaceful silence for a few moments before Ben spoke up again.

"You probably didn't know this but back in high school, I… uh, I had a huge crush on you." Ben admitted. He had no idea where he got the confidence from but seeing her here in the dim lights, looking so beautiful, and knowing he was going to be working with her soon just made him want to be vulnerable.

Bev graced him with a sweet smile. "I knew."

"You did?" He asked in shock. He thought he'd done so well hiding it.

"I mean, you wrote me poetry." She reminded gently.

Ben let out a self-deprecating laugh. Of course she knew, everyone knew. He'd followed her around like a lost puppy since the day they met.

"I liked you too." Bev admitted, making Ben dart his eyes back over to her again in utter surprise. "But I always thought you were too good for me."

"Y-you thought I-I-I-" Ben stuttered, sounding uncannily similar to Bill in that moment. He shook himself out of his shock. "Do you think… And try not to let my intense vulnerability become any kind of a factor here, but do you think it would be okay to ask you out. Sometime. Maybe?" He asked nervously, feeling like he was asking the most popular girl to senior prom.

Bev sent him another smile, one sweeter than the oreo he just ate. "Yeah." She answered softly. "Maybe."

And with that, she stood from her spot and raised her hand in a half-wave before exiting the building and going back home.

Ben went back to cleaning, feeling lighter than he had in years.

He just grabbed a spoon.


	2. The One Where Eddie's Mom Comes To Visit

Once Bev started working at the coffee shop and got all of her shit shipped from Tom's place – although there wasn't much since he didn't let her buy anything of her own – to go in her new room, she fit right back into the group. It was almost like she never left. She spent all of her days just hanging out with everyone again either at Central Perk or in the apartment. It was like she was back in high school again only without going home to abuse.

Today, she watched, along with Stan, Richie, Mike and Bill as Eddie frantically dashed around the apartment trying to clean it perfectly for his mother visiting. She only watched briefly before heading into her room to search for her engagement ring. It was the only thing she still owed Tom and after she gave it back, she could finally cut off all ties with him.

Bev had been living here for almost three weeks now and today was the day Eddie was going to break the news to his mother when she came over for her weekly visit. He'd managed to keep her out of the apartment previously, but he was tired of lying so he decided to bite the bullet.

"Who's little ball of paper is this?" Eddie snapped, holding up said ball that was next to the phone. His face was doing that scrunchy thing it always did whenever he was pissed off as he stared at the four culprits on the sofa with his free hand on his hip.

"Oh that was mine," Richie admitted, turning to face Eddie with an easy-going smile. He knew how worked up his Eds got whenever Sonia was visiting and while he loved to make jokes at her expense, he knew not to rock the boat during times like this. "I thought of a joke so I wrote it down for my act and then I read it back and it was really shitty," he tried to explain but the irritated look in Eddie's eyes made him drop his smile. "and now I wish I was dead." He finished with a quip, trying to perk Eddie up but it seemed to do the opposite. The smaller man threw the ball of paper at Richie's head.

"Put it in the trash." He growled out before moving to fluff the pillow that was next to Mike.

"He already fluffed that pillow," Mike quietly pointed out to Bill before turning to Eddie. "Hey Eddie, you already fluffed-" Before he could finish, Eddie shot him a look of pure evil which made him completely backtrack. "but its fine!" He withdrew quickly, letting Eddie finish his maniac cleaning.

"You guys know how Eddie gets whenever his mom comes around!" Stan called from the kitchen as he washed the already clean dishes. He knew it was stupid but it would also settle Eddie if his cutlery were all disinfected before the dragon came round.

"I'm sorry guys," Eddie apologised. "She's already gonna be pissed off I'm living with a girl that I'm not dating, I just don't wanna give her anymore ammunition."

"Yes, and we all know how cruel parents can be about the flatness of a child's pillow." Richie commented sarcastically before getting off his seat and going to the kitchen to help clean up. He didn't like when Eds was this worked up and it wasn't from his doing.

"E-Eww! U-Ugly naked g-guy got a th-thigh-master!" Bill exclaimed from his seat at the windowpane. The others all stopped what they were doing and rushed over to see.

"Eww!" They gagged in unison.

It was then Bev emerged from her room with a worried expression. "Has anyone seen my engagement ring?"

"Yeah, its beautiful." Eddie snapped, too preoccupied with his cleaning to really understand her question.

"Oh god," Bev muttered to herself as she got on her knees in front of the sofa and stuck her hand under the pillows, effectively ruining all of Eddie's hard work. "Oh god, oh god, oh god."

Mike watched as Bev wildly searched for her ring while messing up the sofa. "No, no, don't touch-" He whisper-yelled to her, trying to stop her in her search before Eddie could see what she was doing.

However it was too late, Eddie was watching with his eye twitching but he didn't say anything because it was Bev.

"Crap, I've got to return this fucking ring or else he's gonna come find me and I don't want him to know where I stay and know I have to return the ring without the ring which makes it so much harder." Beverly rambled as she crawled around the floor, looking under the sofa and table as she did.

"Easy, Bev." Eddie said calmly. "We'll find it, _wont we_?" He asked the rest of the group pointedly who all snapped into attention and started to help her look.

After a long search, Beverly finally realised the last place she had it on was when she was cooking the lasagne to try and make a good impression with Eddie's mom. He wasn't too bothered about having to destroy it since it was Bev's hard work that had made it in the first place. He ended up letting Bev dig through it for her ring and gave it to Richie and Bill to heat it in their apartment for dinner tonight.

Eventually Bill left to go pick up Georgie from school, Richie went to do another gig, and Mike left to give Eddie some privacy.

By the time Sonia came around, Bev was long gone – off to give her ring back – and Eddie was left alone in the lion's den.

"I was talking to Martha Wainright on the phone the other day." Sonia brought up no less than five minutes after she'd sat down. She was slightly out of breath and red in the face from the stairs so Eddie immediately rushed to get her a glass of water.

"Oh?" Eddie questioned curiously, trying to sound interested as he poured water from a bottle in the fridge into a glass. Neither him or his mother dared to drink the tap water for it could contain parasites which could lead to all types of diseases.

"Yes," Sonia waited for Eddie to return before continuing. She took the glass from him and patted his cheek in thanks before taking a swig. "Her daughter is single and she's looking for a date so I said that my handsome boy-"

"Mom, stop." Eddie told her gently, sitting down next to her on the sofa. He sat almost curled into himself with his hands clasped on his lap, sitting up straight so she didn't scold him on his posture. "You know I'm not looking to date right now."

"Oh that's silly, Eddie bear, it's time you settled down with a nice wife who can take care of you." Sonia waved him off and took another drink of her water. As if implying he needed someone to look after him wasn't bad enough, she leaned over and started fixing the same pillow he had been fluffing over and over again. It was like she was saying that nothing he ever did was good enough without saying the actual words.

"I can take care of myself." He tried to say firmly but his voice wobbled at the end. He flinched when she let out a disbelieving laugh.

Before she could say anything more to dent his confidence, the intercom buzzed. He had ordered take-out to avoid the fight with his mother about him cooking and possibly injuring himself.

Once Eddie had paid for the food and set it up at the table, the conversation flowed as normal. She questioned if he had checked the ingredients of the food they were eating, '_Mind your allegeries, Eddie-bear_!' even though he didn't have any but he had agreed just to appease her. It then moved on to his career which was too dangerous for her liking because '_he could catch anything from his patients and why couldn't he get a nice, safe office job somewhere'_ and then finally, while they were eating at the kitchen table, it moved onto his friends. Sonia had never approved of his friends but she seemed to realise after high school when they all still hung out that there was going to be no changing them – but that didn't stop her from bitching about them every time she was over.

"Actually mom," Eddie interrupted after having barely spoke the whole conversation – it was more like an interrogation – so he could drop the news about Bev. "I actually have a new roommate. Beverly Marsh, you remember her, right?" He tried to keep his tone cheerful even after looking at his mother's severely disappointed face.

"You're living with… _that girl_?"

The disgust in Sonia's tone said it all. She had never liked Bev when they were growing up, saying that nice, clean boys like Eddie shouldn't be hanging around with the likes of her. She was either too poor or too slutty or too dirty. However, Eddie was an adult now and he could live with who he liked and he said as such.

"She's staying here and that's the end of that." Eddie said definitely.

The only time he'd ever stood up to his mom was when he had broken his arm when he was a kid and she banned all his friends from seeing him in the hospital. They'd ended up having a big fight and Eddie had spilled that he knew all about his placebo medicines and had to promise to take them if she kept her nose out of his business with his friends.

She agreed and he continued to carry around his inhaler even to this day – although he didn't use it nearly as much as he did as a child.

Sonia went quiet after her son's defiance. There was a few tense moments where they stared each other down before she went back to her dinner and changed the subject again. It seemed like Eddie had gotten his way.

Late at night, all seven of them were hanging out at the coffee place while Bev and Ben cleaned up. Ben wasn't on shift but he wasn't going to let Bev clean the whole place herself, especially since she seemed faraway with having to meet her ex-fiancé tomorrow.

"So how was the dragon?" Richie asked Eddie who was currently laying down on the sofa with his arm thrown over his face. He looked exhausted.

Eddie let out a sigh and dropped his arm. "It went as well as can be expected."

"That bad, huh?" Stan asked sympathetically, leaning over from the chair to give him a comforting pat on the shoulder. He didn't usually do contact but Eddie seemed like he needed it.

"Pretty much." He answered dryly. "I swear sometimes I wish I wasn't an only child, then she could have someone else to torture with all her insane bullshit."

Richie was quick to jump in. "Hey if it makes you feel better, I had an imaginary friend growing up who my parents actually preferred." He felt elated when he brought a chuckle out of Eddie's lips.

"Guys we really gotta clean up, come on." Bev cut in, shooing them away.

Richie helped Eddie off the sofa and slung his arm around his shoulders as they left the building.

Bev gave each boy a hug as they passed by her, only lingering on Bill that millisecond longer, before closing the door behind them and going back to cleaning behind the counter while Ben swept the floor.

"So," Ben spoke up to break the silence. "are you nervous about meeting Tom tomorrow? Because I- uh, we, could go with you to make sure there's no funny business." He offered kindly.

Bev smiled at the offer. The thought of taking Ben with her for protection was amusing to her because, growing up, Ben had never been one for violence. He never even swatted at flies so he took the 'wouldn't hurt a fly' phrase to a literal place. She didn't imagine he had changed even after getting ripped. He would always be her gentle giant.

"No thanks, I can handle him." She affirmed. "Just… Do you have any advice?"

"Maybe just, try and not look fantastic. I know it'll be hard." Ben said with a blush rising to his cheeks. He quickly lowered his head and kept his gaze to the floor as he swept.

"Everything's just so complicated now." Bev whined after a pregnant pause, scrubbing the counter with vigour. "I always thought in high school that I would just meet someone, fall in love, and that'd be it." She said with a wistful sigh, completely missing the fact that Ben had looked up and was now staring at her longingly. "I mean, didn't you?" She questioned, still focused on her task at hand.

When she didn't get a response, she looked up and caught Ben swiftly avoiding her eyes. "Ben?"

"Uh, sure." His words seemed to stumble out. "But I think it'll happen one day, you know? High school romances never last. Someone like you is bound to find true love."

They both shared a secret smile before shyly continuing their cleaning.

Once they were done, Ben walked her back to her and Eddie's apartment before practically skipping home. Every moment with Bev felt like an eternity of happiness to him.

When the day came for Bev to actually meet up with Tom, she was stunned to see him looking in better shape than ever. He was tanned and he looked happy – and to add insult to injury, he had her cousin in bed in the next room! Apparently they had shacked up after she ran out on him and they even went on - what was supposed to be their – honeymoon. She had remained completely neutral as she gave the ring back, actually more just relieved that he had someone else to focus his attention on rather than her. When she handed him the ring, she held onto his hand and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Be good to her, Tom." She told him sincerely. She hoped this was a turning point for him and he would change his way but she knew abusers, they always went back to their old ways. She just hoped her cousin had the sense to leave long before she did.

With that, Bev turned and left the apartment, hoping never to see Tom Rogen again.

She had a new family now, one that loved her.

And they were currently waiting for her back at her apartment to hang out.


	3. The One Where Richie Smokes Again

Richie was practicing some of his set for his newest routine at the bar that night. All his jokes seemed be centred around cigarettes and Bill knew why. Richie's had been smoking with Bev since they were thirteen but, unlike Bev, Richie tried to quit on and off for years. Mainly because Eddie always bitched about the smell which usually would've been enough for Richie to go on the patch but then he would get stressed out about something or his show would get a bad review and he would go to his main source of comfort – smoking. However, as soon as he moved into an apartment with Bill, he stopped for good.

It was a known fact that Bill's dad died of lung cancer when he was really young and because of that, he was always wary about second-hand smoking. Richie had decided to take the plunge and quit for good… which just meant hell for the rest of the Losers.

He had bitched at them, became more snippy, made more sarcastic jokes than ever and just became an all-around asshole until the addiction finally wore off.

And that was why, they were all fully against Richie picking up the habit again. For his own good and for theirs.

However now Bev was back around them and she still smoked like a chimney, Bill knew it wasn't going to be long before Richie cracked. He never did well with peer pressure.

"When you're holding a cigarette, you feel right," Richie continued with his act, although Bill knew the longing in his eyes wasn't for comedic effect. "you feel complete…" He trailed off, not even bothering to finish his joke.

Bill quirked his eyebrow. "Y-you miss i-it?" He asked knowingly.

"Nah not so much." Richie shrugged nonchalantly but they both knew it was for show. "And then this is the part where I pull one out," as he explained, he pulled one of Bev's cigarettes he'd borrowed from his pocket and put it to his lips. Just as he was about to light it, Bill stood and pulled it out of his mouth.

"N-no way, d-dude!" He shook his head, holding the cigarette out of reach. "I'm not letting _you _smoke."

"Come on, man! One's not gonna do anything!" Richie pleaded then used his long as fuck arms to reach around and snatch it back from Bill's fingers. "It's for the joke, I promise."

When Bill finally backed off, Richie lit the cigarette and took a deep puff. "Oh my god.." He let out a sigh, breathing out all the smoke he'd just inhaled. He couldn't even remember where the joke was going.

"That's it!" With that, Bill snatched the cigarette up and went to the bathroom to flush it down the toilet.

When he came back into the living room, Richie continued the rest of his set and the mishap was forgotten.

The gang were all once again hanging out at Central Perk – minus Mike as he was still on his way there. One of the cons to living as far out as he did.

Stan was currently telling them about his most recent date with a nice Jewish girl he'd met from temple. "So I walked her to the subway and she said, we should do this again." He finished with a huff.

The rest of the Losers – apart from Eddie – all let out a sympathetic groan.

"What? What?" Eddie asked looking like a confused puppy dog. He'd never dated anyone, not even in high school, so he didn't understand what everyone was so upset about. "That's good, right?"

"Oh sweet innocent, Eds." Richie crooned as he moved from his position of the arm of the sofa to squeeze into the single seat Eddie was currently occupying and throwing his arm around him comfortably. "Loosely translated, that means, 'you will never see me naked'." He explained to their naïve friend. Eddie always had been late to the party when it came to things like sex. After all, he was so sheltered that he had thought during sex the guy came into the girl's bellybutton and that's how she got pregnant. It was the main reason why the bullies at school at teased him for being a 'flaming homo' which is why he got testy if anyone – i.e. Richie – made any gay jokes at his expense.

"And everybody knows this?" Eddie asked, furrowing his eyebrows, looking at the rest of the guys for conformation.

"Y-yeah, d-dude." Bill confirmed.

"It's like," Ben started, pausing for a moment to think of the classic lines. "'Its not you' means, it is you."

"Or- or," Bev jumped in excitedly. "'I think we should see other people' means, haha! I already am!"

Their antics brought a chuckle out from Stan who nodded in agreement.

"And everybody knows this?" Eddie asked in disbelief.

"Sure, it's like dating language." Bev confirmed.

Just then, Mike finally arrived bursting through the door, looking like he was lost in his own thoughts. He was mumbling to himself as he sat down in the middle of the group. They all turned their attention to him in concern.

"W-what's u-up, buddy?" Bill questioned gently, bringing Mike out of his daze.

"Oh its nothing," he waved him off, trying to keep his calm. "Well it's just, it's my _bank!"_ He snapped the last word.

"Easy." Stan said, trying to keep him calm.

"Sorry, its just," Mike let out a sigh before explaining. "I went to check my account this morning and there's an extra five hundred dollars there."

"The bastards!" Richie snapped sarcastically.

"Dude, I'm black!" Mike gestured to himself obviously. "The minute someone finds out about this, they're gonna think I stole it."

There was an awkward pause as they all knew his words were truther than any of them liked to admit. Mike has already been a target of racial abuse; his parents were burned alive in a nightclub when he was just a kid and the local bully, Henry Bowers, had killed his dog just because he was black. It pained all the Losers because they knew Mike was such a sweetheart and always had a positive word to say about anyone.

"Not if you spent it." Bev interjected.

"Yeah but it would just feel wrong." Mike said with a shrug. "It would feel like I actually _was _stealing."

That was just another testament to Mike's goodness.

Richie got up from his seat and went to get him a coffee at the counter, passing by him with a quick pat on his shoulder.

"Yeah but it you spent it, it would be like shopping." Bev tried again with a playful smile, making Mike return one in favour.

Richie returned, handing Mike his usual order before sitting back on the arm of the sofa and leaning over the back of it so his face was hidden from the group.

"Thanks guys but I think I'm just gonna go sort it tomorrow and deal with their bullshit." Mike told them before taking a sip of his drink.

"Hey Richie, what're you doing?" Eddie suddenly asked, bringing everyone's attention to Richie's awkward position.

The man in question suddenly sat up straight so they could all see him once again but kept his lips sealed shut. With all their eyes on him, he opened his mouth to answer but all that came out was a cloud of smoke.

They all – besides Bev – let out groans and complaints, such as "Oh come on!" and "Really?!"

"I'm smoking, okay? I'm smoking." Richie finally admitted, waving his arms in defence and showing off the lit cigarette in his hands.

"Come on, you've been so good for three years!" Ben pleaded.

"And this is my reward, Haystack." Richie sang with a sarcastic smile, showing his cigarette proudly.

"Now hold on a second," Stan butted in with his 'holier than thou' tone. "Just think about what you went through the last time you quit – actually, scratch that, think about what _we _went through the last time you quit." He bitched.

"Okay, so this time I won't quit." Richie couldn't help but dart his eyes over to Eddie when he said the ones only to see the shorter man frowning deeply. He avoided his eyes after that.

"At least go outside like Bev does to do it." Mike said in his parental voice.

"I'll go with you, Rich." Bev immediately offered. "I'm on break soon anyway."

With that, the two went outside and the others continued their conversation.

A few hours had passed and half of the gang were hanging at Eddie and Bev's place. Ben and Bev were still on shift so they were still at Central Perk but the rest were just watching TV bar Richie who had been banished to the balcony to smoke.

They all glanced at the window when they heard thunder and all of a sudden, rain started to bucket down seemingly out of nowhere.

Richie gestured to the group inside with disbelief, silently asking if he was going to be forced to stay out in the awful weather.

Eddie met his gaze with a scowl. "You can come in but your little filter-tipped buddy has to stay outside!" He called out to him with his hands placed firmly on his hips. One of the signs that he wasn't going to back down. He hated the smell of smoke and he wasn't going to have it in his home. He was still pissed off that Richie had even picked up the habit again after promising him he would stop last night time.

Richie flipped him off before covering his head with the trashcan lid, cigarette still hanging between his lips.

Eddie scoffed and turned his back to the window just in time to see Mike rushing through his apartment door and sitting down in the middle of the sofa, holding a letter.

He started to read it out. "Dear Mr. Hanlon, thank you for correcting our error. We have credited your account five hundred dollars. We're sorry for the _inconvenience _and hope you'll accept this football phone as our free gift." Mike then pulled said phone shaped just like a football out of his bag, holding it up for the others to see. "Can you believe this? Now I have a thousand dollars and a football phone!" He said, clearly outraged.

"What bank is this?" Stan asked in disbelief, taking the letter from him to read over it. He usually tended to stay away from Jewish stereotypes but if banks were giving out free money and gifts, he'd be a fool to pass it up.

"W-what are y-you gonna do n-now, M-Mike?" Bill asked.

"I think I'm just gonna donate it to the library. The more money I'm getting, the more freaked out I'm getting that I'm gonna have cops at my door." Mike answered with a shrug. The library certainly needed some cash anyway. It used to give him a safe haven to keep off the streets when he was younger even though most of the books were scribbled in and it had leaky holes in the ceiling. Not much had changed since then and he wanted to do something to help.

"That's really sweet of you, Mike." Eddie complimented with a smile.

It was then that Richie had finally come back inside, shivering as he was just dressed lightly and didn't have his jacket when he was outside.

"It's colder than a witch's tit out there." He complained as he made his way over to sit on the armrest of the chair Eddie was currently occupying.

"That's what you get for breaking your promise to me." Eddie snipped but made no move to get off the chair even though Richie stunk of smoke.

"Look Eds, I'm sorry, okay?" Richie said, sounding as if he was going to be sincere for once. "It's just I like to have a cigarette after porking your mom all-" Before he could finish his joke, Eddie had pushed him off the chair, making him land on the floor with a cackle.

"Beep beep, asshole!" Eddie exclaimed in disgust.

Their antics earned a laugh from Bill and Mike and an exasperated sigh from Stan.

The next day, Mike had taken a scroll to the library and handed the money and phone over to the bank under an anonymous name. He had fibbed to the librarian about being sent by his boss to give over the donation since no one would believe a black man had that kind of money to give away.

After that, he had walked down to the nearby park and bought a bag of seeds and a soda from a nearby vendor. The seeds were for the ducks in the river since he knew their digestive systems handled that better than bread and the soda was for him.

He spent a few hours just sitting at a bench near the water, feeding the ducks, content with his own thoughts. He loved the quiet moments like this when he wasn't working or spending time with his friends. Nothing made him happier than spending time with animals and nature.

It wasn't until he opened his soda that his day was effectively ruined. He looked inside it to find-

"_A thumb?!"_ Beverly repeated in disgust when Mike had told them all the story at Central Perk later that day.

"Eww!" They all gagged in unison – Eddie especially. Finding even an unsalted chip in a packet freaked him out, he couldn't begin to imagine the hysteria he would feel if he almost drank something with a body part in it.

"Yeah," Mike confirmed, still holding the same can – which had grown warm now – in his hand. "I just looked down and saw it floating in there, like this tiny little hitchhiker."

"Maybe it was a contest, you know? Like, collect all five?" Richie suggested, earning a playful smack on the shoulder from Bev over the back of the orange sofa.

"Anyone wanna see?" Mike asked, holding out the can to the group but they were all quick to refuse, voicing their disgust. He shrugged and sat down at the table with he can in front of him.

Everyone's attention darted over to Richie when they heard the click of his lighter, cigarette already between his teeth and passing one to Bev.

"Come on!" They turned their disgust to the two smoking in front of the rest of them. None of them really bothered about the smokers when they were teenagers but it was normal to do it then. Now they were all older, they knew of the health risks it caused and they were concerned about their friend's safety. Bev was harder to scold because she was a sneaky smoker and often did it out of view, consequence of having to hide it from her ex-fiancé for years, but now she had found a companion in Richie again, they were both doing it a lot more.

"It's worse than the thumb." Stan said with a huff.

"Sorry guys." Bev muttered before heading outside to smoke in peace, but this time Richie didn't follow.

"This is so unfair." Richie stated, taking the cigarette from his mouth to defend himself. He interrupted the group as they all started to protest. "So I have a flaw! Big deal! Like Stan's constant bird talk doesn't piss anyone off, or Ben constantly reminding everyone about the calories in everything, or Eddie's obsession with sterilizing everything, or Mike cracking his knuckles or how it takes Big Bill forty years to get out a sentence. I accept all of those things, why can't you accept me and Bev's?" He demanded before sitting back to watch the firework show.

There was a pregnant pause before anyone spoke up and that person happened to be Eddie Kaspbark.

"At least mine benefits everyone in the group." He defended agitatedly. "I'm keeping everyone from getting any diseases or infections."

"I-It is like hah-having t-to live with Mary P-Poppins on crack th-though." Bill told him gently making the smaller man shoot him an offended look.

"I-Is t-that s-so?" Eddie mocked, crossing his arms as he did. If he were a cat, his tail would definitely be standing straight right now.

"Don't listen to him, Bill," Stan interjected when he seen their leader's downfallen expression. "I think it's endearing."

"Yeah did a blue tit tell you that?" Ben muttered, earning a nasty look from Stan.

"Does the knuckle cracking bother everyone?" Mike suddenly asked, feeling self-conscious about his nervous habit. He had the urge to do it now but because attention had been brought to it, he kept his hands firmly in his lap.

"I could live without it." Eddie said bitchily, still unhappy that his cleanliness apparently bothered everyone to at least some extent.

"Alright I should get back to work." Ben said, wanting to take himself out of the situation before it got any worse. However, before he could even turn his back, Stan had spoken up again.

"Yeah otherwise people might actually get their order." He muttered loud enough for Ben to hear it. Ben was a good employee but it wasn't hard to see that whenever any of the Losers were at the coffee place, he tended to get distracted and slack quite a bit on his job – as a result, he often got complaints about people having to wait on their order for a long amount of time.

Ben frowned and shot back a rebuttal.

"Yeah? Well-"

And just like that, chaos ensued.

Bev came back to see everyone was arguing with everyone, all shouting over the top of each other, and Richie merrily enjoyed his cigarette with a smug expression on his face.

The next day, Mike had called up the soda company about the mishap, simply hoping to inform them of their error so they could make sure it didn't happen to anyone else. However, what ended up happening was they paid him off not to go to the media about it – which he wouldn't have anyway.

He went to the coffee place in a daze only to find Bev – not working for once – sitting with Richie on the orange sofa and Eddie and Ben behind them, seeming to be giving them a lecture.

"Alright I'm sick of you guys!" Richie declared. "I'm tired of you guys with your cancer and your heart failure and disease. The bottom line is s_moking's cool _and you know it." He said only half-joking. One of the main reasons he had started in the first place was that was what the cool kids did in high school and he wanted to prove himself to them and to the Losers that he could be cool too. Over the years it had just become a way to deal with stress which eventually formed into an addiction.

"Maybe they're right, Rich." Bev conceded lightly. "I mean I only really did because I was stressed out with my dad and later, with Tom. Maybe now I don't need it." Despite the fact she actually said the words, her actions spoke louder than what she was saying and she still held the lit cigarette in her hand.

"Traitor." Richie hissed.

"Hey I've got a proposition for you guys." Mike chimed in, finally alerting the four to his presence. "If neither of you smoke by the end of the month, I'll give you each three and a half thousand dollars."

"What are you talking about, Mike?" Ben asked, looking just as confused as the rest of them.

"The soda people paid me seven thousand dollars." He explained simply. There was nothing he could spend that amount of money on and not look suspicious, so it was better for him to get rid of it and who better to give it to than his two poorest friends?

Richie and Bev both shared a lot before simultaneously putting out their cigarettes and smiling up at Mike.

Karma had certainly done its job that day.

"_Come on, Spaghetti." _Richie pleaded with his smaller friend as he tried to get his attention.

They were both in Eddie's apartment watching a late night movie– Bev long since retired to her bed - but Eddie was still giving him the silent treatment because of him smoking. It had been a whole week since him and Bev gave it up and, while he had been testy, he hadn't taken any of it out on Eddie because he knew the little gremlin could give back as good as he got.

It wasn't unusual for Richie to come over this late at night. They were usually both so exhausted from their nightshift jobs that they sometimes crashed together on the sofa but it was kind of hard to do that right now because every time Richie got even so much as a millimetre closer to Eds on the sofa, he got elbowed away.

"No, fuckface, I'm still pissed off." Eddie said with a huff, pointedly turning away his back to Richie and keeping his gaze locked on the TV despite the fact he wasn't even following the plot of the movie at this point.

"Come on-" Richie tried again only to be cut off.

"No!" Eddie snapped before lowering his voice so he didn't wake Beverly next door. "You _promised _me you wouldn't do it again. You know I hate smoking." He hissed, breaking his gaze with the TV to shoot Richie a quick glare before looking back again.

"I'm sorry, okay? It was just a momentary lapse." He defended lightly. He hated when Eddie was mad at him for real. They couldn't get through one day without bickering but there was a difference between that and this. He couldn't handle the cold shoulder, it just made him feel like when he was a kid and his parents would rather ignore him than deal with his hyper ass after school. For crying out loud, he didn't even know he had AD/HD until he was in college!

Eddie simply scoffed at his excuse.

"What'll it take for you to forgive me?" Richie asked with an almost desperateness to his tone. He bit his lip in worry when he still received no response. He knew he fucked up bad but he was at a loss on what to do. Usually he just told one of his crappy jokes or did a Voice and Eddie would forget- Suddenly an idea struck him.

"Oh!" Richie snapped his fingers. If he were a cartoon, there would be a lightbulb flashing above his head. "Wait here." He shot up from the sofa and rushed out of Eddie's apartment and into his own.

Eddie, while still mad, peered over at the door curiously. Knowing Richie, anything could come out of that door and it would either piss Eddie off more or it would get Richie off the hook. He was willing to bet it was the former.

It was then that Richie came through the door, strumming his guitar to a song Eddie knew all too well.

_"Did you hear that lonesome whippoorwill?__  
_He sounds too blue to fly_  
_The midnight train is whining low_  
_I'm so lonesome, I could cry,__

_I've never seen a night so long__  
_When time goes crawling by_  
_The moon just went behind a cloud_  
_To hide its face and cry,"__

Eddie couldn't believe Richie was singing Elvis to him, knowing damn well it was his favourite artist. He tried with all his might but for the life of him, he couldn't keep the smile off his face. It grew when Richie, still strumming along to the song, leant down in front of him on one knee and sang up to him like it was his own personal concert.

It was an easily forgotten fact that Richie was kind of a genius. He got straight A's in all of his classes with very little to almost no studying, he was quick-witted with all of his jokes, he had deep insights about obscure music – specifically rock – and he was a really fast learner. It was how he got into Harvard but proceeded to drop out because he didn't want to be a dentist like his father or any kind of doctor.

Besides the point, Richie had picked up the instrument easily in his late teens. He often played down at the coffee place. He only started before he had gotten his office job just to scrounge up some extra money from rent since he made nothing from his comedy gigs but he continued even to this day because he loved performing.

And because Eddie absolutely loved it.

He admired Richie's voice and was often encouraging him to pursue something with but Richie knew in his heart of hearts that comedy was where his passion lay.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to exploit his talent to butter his Eds up now and then.

_Did you ever see a robin weep__  
_When leaves begin to die?_  
_That means he's lost the will to live_  
_I'm so lonesome, I could cry,__

_The silence of a falling star__  
_Light's up a purple sky_  
_And as I wonder where you are_  
_I'm so lonesome, I could cry…"__

Richie let the last note of the song linger as he stared up at Eddie with a hopeful expression.

Eddie pursed his lips as he contemplated whether or not to forgive his friend for going back on his promise but eventually, the sweet gesture won out. He rolled his eyes and leaned back on the sofa, patting the space next to him.

"Hurry up and get over here, dipshit, before I change my mind." He grumbled but there was no longer any malice to his voice. He even smiled at the other man as he said it.

Richie didn't need to be told twice. He left his guitar leaning against the arm of the sofa before darting over to his rightful place next to his Eds. He grinned widely and swung his arm over the back of the sofa when Eddie moved closer to him so their sides were pressing against each other.

The two eventually fell asleep like that and all was once again right with the world.


	4. The One Where Bev Does Laundry

The Losers were all gathered at their favourite spot at the coffee shop. They always managed to get central seating at the orange sofa because Ben usually put a reserved sign on the table if he was expecting any of them to show up. It was just his big heart looking out for his friends.

Today was no different.

Ben was at the counter, talking quietly with Richie while the rest were sitting at their main spot in the middle of a lengthy conversation.

Bev walked over to them and flopped down at the chair with the little table next to the sofa with a huff.

"What's up, Bev?" Mike asked concernedly.

"Oh nothing, just left a call with my old friends: The Real Housewives of Hell." She said with an eyeroll. "They're all either getting pregnant or engaged or promoted and I'm getting _coffee._" She said with a clearly forced smile. Now that she'd given up smoking, she was a little on edge lately. Usually when she was stressed like this, she had a vice to turn to but now she just had to do the healthy thing and rant to her friends.

"S-screw them, B-Beverly." Bill said strongly despite his stutter. "Y-you're doing th-this a-amazing independent thing a-and if none of th-them can s-see that th-then, fu-fuc-f..f…" He struggled to get out the rest of the sentence out - despite how strong he had started - and went slightly red with embarrassment. He hated whenever he couldn't get his words out. Especially in front of Bev.

"Fuck 'em." Eddie finished helpfully.

"Thanks guys." She said gratefully.

"So!" Richie clapped loudly as he made his way back over to the group with Ben trailing behind him, dressed in his apron. It was a slow morning at Central Perk so he had time to hang out. "It's Saturday night. The big night, date night. _Saturday night. _Sat-urd-ay night!" He enthused, plopping down on the armrest of the sofa.

"No plans, huh?" Stan asked dryly, seeing through Richie's façade straight away.

"Not-a-one." Richie answered, still just as cheerful.

"N-not even br-breaking up w-with Sandy?" Bill asked with a smirk.

Richie snapped his fingers in recollection. "Oh right uh, shut up." He shot back with a bat of his eyelashes.

"You're finally breaking up with her?" Eddie asked a little too eagerly, leaning forward in his chair a little.

"Yeah I just hate doing this shit." Richie admitted. "It's just so awkward when you meet up with her, she has no idea what's happening, and then there's that tense silence when you've finally handed her the note and-"

"Oh come on, Richie!" Stan said in exasperation. "No one likes breaking up with someone but you just gotta bite the bullet and do it. It's what _adults _do, you should try it sometime."

The others chuckled quietly at his expense as he shrugged off the comment.

"I may have an emotional maturity of a thirteen-year-old but I have a chode bigger than all of you pussies combined, so I think that makes up for it." Richie said, making them groan and Stan to push him off the sofa. Thankfully, he was expecting it and landed on his feet.

"Hey Richie, if you want, I can do it with you." Mike offered.

"You wanna do it with me, Micheal?" Richie asked with a suggestive lilt to his voice and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Mike laugh and flipped him off. "No, asshole, I meant I'll break up along with you."

"Thanks, man, but I think if both of us do it, she'll kinda feel like we're ganging up on her, you know?"

"No I mean, you break up with Sandy and I'll break up with Jasmin." Mike explained.

"Aww man, you're breaking up with Jasmin? You guys were so good together." Eddie said sympathetically, reaching over to pat Mike's arm.

"Yeah we had a good run but it's just not working out." He answered with a casual shrug of his shoulders. It was hard for Mike to settle down with a girl. He was always afraid that people would see a black couple in the street and try to attack them, just like what happened with his parents and all the other black patrons at the nightclub that got burned down.

"Then sure, let's do it." Richie agreed with a grateful smile.

Ben and Bev had drifted off into the background. Ben still had tables to clean and Bev didn't want him to be left out because he had to work. After all, he often stayed behind to help her clean late at night even when he wasn't on shift.

"So what are your big plans tonight?" Ben asked curiously as he wiped one of the tables now.

"Not much. Just me and Eddie going to the laundromat and party till the sun comes up." Beverly said with a teasing smile.

Ben ducked his head so she couldn't see the blush rising to his cheeks. He thought that after years of not seeing Bev, his feelings for her would disappear but it turns out that absence really does make the heart grow fonder because all those feelings came rushing back and hit him like a freight train. He just loved being in her company again. She was always so spunky and full of life. He wanted any excuse just to hang around her.

"You wanna hear a weird coincidence?" Ben asked, avoiding her gaze and keeping his eyes glued down to his work. "Guess who else is doing laundry there too?"

"Who?" Bev asked curiously.

"Me." Ben asked, finally looking back up at her with a nervous expression. "W-was that not clear?"

"Oh no! I just thought you had a laundry room in your building." Bev said with a confused furrow of her eyebrows.

Ben started to sweat now that his fib had been caught out. He wrung the table-cloth in his hands nervously as he tried to think of a wait to back himself out of the grave he dug himself.

"Uh yeah! I do.. I do have a laundry room in my building." He confirmed, just trying to buy himself a little extra time to think on his feet. "But there's uh, rats. Yeah, a big rat problem. Apparently they're attracted to the drier sheets." Ben stumbled over his words, just trying to get his excuse out but he could see from Beverly's expression that it wasn't working. Still, he continued. It seemed once he started, he just couldn't shut up. "They're going in and coming out all… fluffy."

Bev smiled to herself as she caught onto Ben's lie. She couldn't help but be charmed by it. "You know you could've just said you wanted to hang out with us." She told him in a stage whisper. She reached up and ruffled his hair. "Meet us there at seven." She told him with a wink before going back to the others.

He stared after her with a dopey grin on his face only to be broken by Stan, who passed him on his way.

"You've got it bad, man." He said simply before leaving him there.

Ben didn't think he could get any more excited about tonight but Eddie Kaspbrak had just thrown him a lifeline. He had been in his apartment hanging out with Stan when he called Eddie to make sure he was okay with him tagging along with them to the laundromat place when Eddie had given him the fantastic news that he had been pulled into an emergency bank shift tonight and couldn't make. When he got off the phone, he did a little happy dance.

"Eddie said he couldn't make it tonight." He explained when Stan looked at him like he had grown two heads.

"So wait, it's just gonna be you and Bev?" Stan questioned with a raise of his eyebrows. "This is a date. You're going on a _date._" He said bluntly, making Ben freeze mid-dance.

"What should I do?" Ben asked, suddenly looking fearful.

"Well have you thought this through?" Stan asked with his all-knowing tone. "Let's have a look here." He muttered as he went to Ben's laundry basket and rifled through it. "No to the dirty underwear. This is the first time she's gonna see them, you really want them to be dirty?"

"Nu-uh, she saw them when we were thirteen and went to the lake." Ben defended. Maybe some part of him wanted to prove to her that he still didn't wear tightie-whities but he knew Stan did have a point so he listened to him and picked out his boxers.

"Oh and the fabric softener?" Stan waved his hand, gesturing for him to get rid of it.

"What's wrong with my Snuggles?" Ben questioned with a frown as he picked up the product. "It says I'm a warm, sensitive kinda guy, like a bear." He explained with a small smile. It dropped when he seen the exaggerated roll of Stan's eyes. "It's cute and I'm keeping it." He said definitely, holding the bottle to his chest protectively. If this was a date like Stan said then he didn't want to change anything about himself or act like some big, touch, metro dude. That just wasn't him and Beverly would see through it in a flash.

"Fine." Stan said with a sigh. "Alright I gotta go grade some papers, you gonna be alright?"

"Yeah, Stan, thanks."

Night had finally rolled around and Richie and Mike were the only one's left standing at Central Perk.

"Where are they?" Richie questioned nervously as he paced back and forth from the sofa to the front door, looking through the little window to try and spot any sight of the dumpees.

"Calm down, they'll be here." Mike said reassuringly. "Just think how nice this is. We never do anything together." He said, always having to be looking on the positive side of things.

"Sure, maybe next time we can go rent some baseball bats and murder some puppies." Richie quipped sarcastically, making Mike bulge his eyes open.

"No, I don't wanna do that." He said seriously. Richie shot him a look for not getting the joke.

It was then that a tall blonde burst through the door holding more shopping bags than her body weight. She had all designer clothes on and expensive looking sunglasses on despite the fact it was pitch black outside.

"Have a good break up." Mike told him with a pat on his shoulder and moved off the sofa so Richie had some privacy.

"Hi sweetie!" Sandy called out loudly in her shrill voice when she spotted Richie – who immediately flinched at hearing her voice.

He liked Sandy, he really did, she was hot as fuck. However, she was a total valley girl and complete airhead. There was only so many jokes he could tell her that went right over her perfectly permed head before he gave up.

"I'm so glad you called me." She continued as she sat down next to him and plopped the bags down by her feet. "I had the most horrific day."

"What happened? You break a nail?" Richie asked almost boredly, flinching once again when she started to cackle.

He stood up to order them some coffee just to get some space from her. As he stood at the counter, waiting for his order, he watched as Mike's girlfriend came through the door. He watched with his mouth hanging open wide enough to catch flies as they spoke for all of five seconds and hugged. He even thought he seen the girl nod in understanding before exiting the coffee place.

Richie went over to his table and held out his hands in disbelief. "What the fuck was that?"

"I know, it was really hard." Mike said.

"Oh yeah the hug looked fucking excruciating." Richie shot back sarcastically.

"Dude, you weren't there." Mike snipped and left it at that.

Richie felt like five seconds from pulling out his hair from sheer frustration. He went to pick up the non-fat latte for Sandy and the expresso for him before going back to the sofa and handed her the cup.

He took his like a shot before she'd even had a chance to sip hers. "So, more coffee?" He asked, holding his empty cup.

Sandy stared at him wide-eyed before letting out another cackle. "No I'm still working on mine."

Her laugh felt like nails dragging down a chalkboard to him. He knew he should have just went with the note idea or just been a man and stopped calling altogether.

Richie let his head fall into his hands as he decided what the hell he was going to do.

At the laundromat, Bev arrived first. She decided to put on her load while she waited for Ben to arrive and stuck her basket of clothes on top of a spare machine before going to get quarters for it.

However, for the two seconds she was away, an older woman seen her free machine and roughly pushed her basket off it to make room for her own clothes.

Seeing this, Bev quickly rushed over with a polite smile. "Excuse me," She said sweetly, trying to get the woman's attention. "I was kinda using that machine."

The woman gave her an unimpressed look, trailing her eyes up and down Beverly's form with judgement in her eyes. It reminded Bev of back in high school when all the other girls would look at her like a piece of shit because she had to wear clothes from Good Will. "Well, now you're kinda not." She told the redhead with a snarky tone.

Bev stepped back in surprise. She blinked a few times before she could even respond. "I-I'm sorry?" She questioned, still shocked by the suddenly aggressive encounter.

"I don't see any suds." The woman told her before going back to her task of piling her own clothes into the machine. "No suds, no save." She said with finality in her voice, making it clear that, that was the end of the discussion.

Beverly gingerly took her basket and moved to turn back when she suddenly bumped into Ben. She couldn't help but feel how solid his entire form was, it was like bumping into an ice sculpture.

"What's going on?" He asked concerned, only catching the tail end of what had happened.

"Oh hi," Bev greeted shakily, keeping a hold of her basket under one arm while she nervously tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear with her free hand. "Nothing, just, this horrible woman took my machine.." She said before awkwardly clearing her throat and lowering her eyes.

Ben hated to see Beverly look so defeated. He knew her confidence had been shaken by that jackass she was going to marry because the Beverly he knew when they were younger wouldn't have taken any shit. She was probably one of the nicest people he had ever met but she was also the toughest and didn't let anyone walk all over her. It killed him to see her so quick to give up.

He decided that, despite not being a confrontational person, this would be a battle he was happy to fight for her. "Excuse me," He mumbled to her gently as he squeezed past and stood in front of the old woman. "Hey, my friend was actually using that machine." He told her firmly.

"Hey hey hey!" The woman immediately started yelling, causing a scene in the place. Thankfully it wasn't that busy so hopefully Beverly wouldn't feel too embarrassed, Ben thought. "It wasn't even on yet!"

"Hey hey hey," He repeated, continuing to stand strong without having to raise his voice to her volume. "That's not the rule, and _you _know it."

They had a stare off for a few minutes before the woman conceded and took her clothes back out the machine with a huff. Once she had all her stuff, she left the two alone and went to the back of the laundromat to wait until a machine was free.

Ben turned back to Beverly but whatever he was going to say died on his tongue when he saw the look of absolute admiration in her eyes.

"Thank you." She told him sincerely as she brushed past him and started to fill up the machine with her own clothes. "I don't know what happened there, I just froze up." She explained, keeping her gaze focused on her task now. She didn't want Ben to view her as weak but let's face it, after that, anyone would. She couldn't even defend herself to a nasty old woman.

"Hey, it happens." Ben said gently.

Back at the coffee place, Richie had listened to Sandy go on and on about her day for at least an hour. He could only listen to the story of her fight with the saleswoman at Ralph Lauren for so long before he put a bullet in his head. He had to just come right out with it and get this break up over.

"Listen Sandy," He interrupted. "It's not working out between us. I'm sorry."

The blonde stared at Richie in disbelief for a few tense seconds, blinking owlishly.

"Is there someone else?" She finally asked through gritted teeth.

A pair of golden-brown doe eyes flashed through Richie's mind before he pushed the image away. "No." He answered quickly. "I just don't think we're right for each other."

Once again, Sandy let a pregnant pause pass over them.

"Well there you go.." Sandy said, trying to shrug it off as if she didn't care. However, the tears in her eyes told a different story. She cursed at herself quietly and waved her freshly manicured hands in front of her eyes, trying to stop the tears from ruining her makeup.

Her obvious distress sent Richie in a panic and it felt as if his AD/HD went into overdrive. He couldn't sit still and that expresso he had earlier didn't help matters either. He started bobbing around the sofa as he tried to think of a way to put into words how their break-up was a good thing but for once in his life, Richie Tozier didn't know what to say. He didn't even have a joke to break the tension.

"See it's like this, Sandy," He started to bang his hands on the table in front of him. "I'm like the bing bing bing, you're like the boom boom boo-" As he waved his arms to try and get his point across, he accidentally whacked her on the side of the face – actually, it was her eye. He knew that because she cried out in pain and immediately covered her left eye.

"Holy shit!" Richie exclaimed. "I am so sorry-"

"No it's fine, I just think you moved my contact." Sandy said, waving him off. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom." She told him before getting up and walking to the ladies room.

Richie instantly stood and went over to Mike who was still sitting at the counter with his own cup of coffee. It had been clear he had been subtly watching their interaction the whole time but Richie still felt the need to exclaim what just happened.

"I hit her in the eye!"

"Calm down," Mike instructed him gently, putting on hand on his shoulder to try and relax him but even he could see Richie was far too jittery for any hope of that. "Just go to your happy place."

"This is the worst break-up in the world. I think this even trumps Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake." Richie pointed out, blatantly ignoring Mike's attempts to soothe him.

"It's really not that bad." Mike tried to reassure him.

"It's worse than bad!" Richie argued then looked over his friend's shoulder in horror. "Here she comes again!" He whisper-yelled.

Mike let out a sigh. He couldn't watch Richie struggle anymore than he already had. He had to step in. "Just, wait here." He told him before going over to Sandy himself.

Richie watched incredulous as Mike said something to Sandy that he couldn't quite hear that made her nod in understanding. The two spoke for a few minutes before hugging – much like Mike did with his own ex-girlfriend – and pulling back. Sandy shot Richie a sweet smile before collecting her shopping bags and walking out the door.

"What the fuck man?" Richie asked with both arms outstretched. He let out a breathless laugh and pulled Mike in for a tight hug. "Let's always break up together."

Mike joined in with his laughter. "Sure, dude. Sure."

Ben and Beverly spent the entire night just talking like kids again.

Ben had been in the middle of telling a story when the buzzer went off, signalling the cycle had ended and it was time to take the clothes out.

Ben, ever the gentleman, opened the washer door but immediately slammed it shut again. "Uh oh." He murmured.

"Uh oh?" Bev questioned, feeling a sense of worry go over her. "Uh oh what?" She reached for the door handle but Ben kept his weight on it so she couldn't pull it open and see what was inside. He wanted to ease her into the news.

"It's just… You left a red sock with your whites," He broke the news to her gently, letting her open the door and see the damage for yourself. "and now everything's, kinda pink."

Bev froze up when she saw what she'd done to her laundry. She couldn't help but feel the prickle of terror crawl at the back of her neck. She knew if she were in the presence of her father or Tom, they would beat the shit out of her for such a careless mistake. However, she knew Ben would never hurt her. She forced her eyes up to meet his comforting gaze and the tension faded out of her.

But then that moment was ruined when the nasty old woman from before walked behind them and started laughing cruelly at the sight of Beverly's clothes as she passed them.

"Don't listen to her, Beverly, at least you got the clothes clean." Ben tried to enthuse with a strained smile.

"I guess," Bev agreed in a mumble, pulling out the clothes to inspect them. She held up one of her favourite sweaters that she used to wear with everything and now she would only be able to wear it as pyjamas. "Even though I'll look like a giant pink marshmallow wearing any of this."

"Well if anyone could pull it off, it's you." Ben complimented sincerely, finally bringing out a smile on Bev's face.

He cleared his throat nervously and left to go check on his own clothes, taking an empty cart with him. However, the second he left it unattended, the same old woman from before was quick to take it.

The laundromat was almost empty at this point and there were plenty of other carts in the place for the woman to use so Bev knew she was just doing it out of spite.

"Excuse me," She stepped in front of the cart, blocking the woman's waist. "My friend had that cart."

"Yeah well I had a twenty-four-inch waist. You lose things." She rebutted sarcastically then tried to push past the redhead, but Beverly wasn't having any of it.

She grabbed onto the end of the cart and kept a firm grip on it. "I don't think you understand, my friend is using this cart." She said firmly, vaguely aware of Ben watching her from across the laundromat, ready to step in if anything got too out of hand.

"Do I look like I care? Move!" The woman snapped at her aggressively, trying once again to push the cart into Bev as if she were trying to run her over.

Beverly suddenly felt the need to claim her independence back. She had left behind that life of abuse twice now and she wasn't going to let some miserable old hag make her feel weak again.

"Listen you bitch, if you want this cart then you're gonna have to take me with it!" Bev hissed at her as she moved inside the cart and sat it in it, all the while glaring at the other woman.

Clearly, the old broad thought it was too much hassle to go against Beverly because she pushed the cart away with the girl still in away and stomped off.

Ben caught the cart before Bev rolled into a machine and helped her out of it with a proud smile.

"There's my girl." He said softly.

The look of absolute adoration in his eyes made Bev lean up and place a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Thanks, new kid." She told him with reverence, calling him by the nickname he hadn't heard in a hell of a long time.

Ben let out a nervous laugh and went to lean one hand against a nearby washing machine and slipped off it, making him stumble. He tried to recover and play it off as cool. "So uh," He spoke quickly to try and take the focus off his mistake. "More clothes in the drier?" And as if Ben couldn't make more of a fool of himself, he practically ran into an open drier door, smacking his head off it and falling to the ground.

"Ben!" Beverly rushed over to him while he simply stared up at her with a goofy smile.

She checked him over for a concussion and when there was nothing but a small bump on his head, she let him up.

The two finished their laundry before retreating back to the coffee place where the others were already gathered. Beverly sat next to Ben, holding an icepack over the bump in his head while he revelled in the attention he was receiving from her. She explained to the others what had happened, making them laugh at his expense.

"Hey, where's Richie?" Beverly asked when she noticed the missing member of their group.

"I think he needed some time to grieve." Mike answered.

Almost as if he'd heard them, Richie ran along the street right outside Central Perk, screaming '_I'm free! I'm free!_"

They all smiled in good-humour.


End file.
